Parking attracts most penalties for antisocial behaviour

The vast majority of penalties for antisocial behaviour handed out by Brussels communes concern parking, according to a report published on Monday. The verbal warnings and fines can also be applied to other sorts of public nuisance, such as littering, urinating in public, insulting behaviour, disturbing the peace, vandalism and shoplifting.

The first report from the Brussels Observatory for Prevention and Security reveals that 77% of the penalties handed out in in 2013 related to parking. It adds that this hardly fits the spirit of the law, which was intended to address all kinds of antisocial behaviour.

To find out why this should be, public broadcaster RTBF talked to Bertrand de Buisseret, who presides over a working group that brings together the commune officials in charge of issuing penalties. He explained that one reason for the imbalance is that it is easier and safer to report a number plate than to accost someone in the process of committing an offence.

"We know that we are inevitably exposed to insults or very aggressive behavior," he said. However, the problem of parking should not be ignored. "Poorly parked cars are a curse on the communes."